Category Archives: Politics

Isle of Man Post Office marks the 225th anniversary of The Times newspaper by commemorating some of the most significant events of recent history reported in this world famous publication.

The Times dates back to 1788 and has covered every news story in history. All the headlines reproduced in this unique new stamp issue, in association with The Times newspaper, capture the drama and immediacy of particular news events flashed across the world.

People of a certain age vividly remember where they were when they heard the news that President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas in November 1963. They can recollect the excitement and pride as England won the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, dramatically beating West Germany 4-2 in extra time, at the Old Empire Stadium.

People can still talk about watching in awe remarkable television pictures of American Apollo XI astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping down onto the surface of the Moon in July 1969. Residents in the Isle of Man recall with particular pleasure going to a post office and buying the first postage stamps issued by their new independent Postal Authority, in July 1973.

Each one of these key moments in history are featured on the stamps as well as two other significant occasions when the supersonic airliner Concorde retired from service in 2003 after 27 years of service and Her Majesty the Queen’s state visit to the People’s Republic of China in October 1986 when she was shown the iconic Great Wall of China.

The six Newspaper Headlines have been carefully selected and these stamps will appeal to a wide variety of thematic collectors from those interested in aviation, American history, royalty, space, football and postal history.

Maxine Cannon, General Manager, Isle of Man Stamps & Coins said:

“Residents of the Isle of Man, stamp collectors and non-collectors alike from countries throughout the world will find something of interest in this engaging Newspaper Headlines set of stamps. People in the Isle of Man over a certain age will well remember going to a post office and buying the first commemorative and definitive stamps issued by the new independent Postal Authority, in July 1973, 40 years ago.”

Please visit our website at www.iomstamps.com to find out more about our Newspaper Headlines collection of stamps and products and to pre-order.

A further five highly popular self-service Pay and Post kiosks are being introduced into the local community, in a bid to give customers greater access and choice of location for transacting their postal business.

Additional kiosks will be housed in Shoprite stores in Ramsey, Port Erin and Derby Road in Peel as well as the Sea Terminal, Station Garage, Castletown and the new Customer Services Centre at Postal Headquarters which opens on December 3. This expansion continues Isle of Man Post Office’s strategy to increase the availability of postal services beyond that of the normal Post Office retail network opening hours.

Marty Quine, General Manager Retail Network, Isle of Man Post Office said: “The locations we have chosen reflect the areas where we felt there was a need for additional outlets for postal services. I believe these will be convenient to customers who struggle to find the time to visit a post office during the normal working hours to buy stamps, post parcels and pay bills. Each of the new kiosk sites have early morning and late night opening hours, giving customers flexibility in the time they choose to transact their postal business.”

Meanwhile the Pay & Post kiosk which was installed in the Crosby Hotel in March last year has seen very little customer usage and is not proving commercially viable in this venue. Therefore the kiosk has been withdrawn from the Crosby Hotel and placed in one of the above locations.

Geoff Corkish MBE MHK, Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office said: “We appreciate the withdrawal of the kiosk will be disappointing news to the small number of customers in the Crosby area who did find the postal kiosk convenient and we apologise for any inconvenience it will cause. However, we have to relocate the kiosk in order that it is more cost-effective in terms of revenue for the business. We have consulted with the Member for Middle Howard Quayle MHK and Marown Commissioners explaining our reasons for this move and appreciate their understanding; however the kiosk in this location was heavily underutilised.”

The kiosks enable customers to weigh, stamp and pay for packages to be posted quickly and efficiently, using a simple touch screen device. As well as the postal capabilities, customers can also pay their electricity, gas, phone bills and government rates through the machines.

Marty Quine said: “We are always keen to receive any feedback from customers about their experience of using the kiosks and an exit poll will be conducted at all the new locations and existing ones, in order to gauge customer feedback about the kiosks, how easy they are to use, their overall experience and whether they would use them again. Customers will also have the opportunity to add any further comments in order that we can continue to improve the standard of service we deliver. All participants who take part in the exit poll no later than December 31 will be entered into our prize draw to win an Isle of Man Post Office Yearbook 2012.”

Pay & Post kiosks were first introduced into the Island in August 2010 in Regent Street Post Office, following a response to customers’ desires to have self-service weighing positions, reduced queuing times and provide quick and simple service to purchase stamps, weigh and pay for letters and parcels and pay utility bills. Following their introduction, kiosks were also placed in Shoprite, Victoria Road, Douglas and the Wessex Garage, Alexander Drive, Douglas. The kiosks have been an overwhelming success with customers praising the out of hours access to postal services and their simplicity to use.

Isle of Man Post Office has continued its relationship with Integrex, one of the UK’s foremost providers of electronic and IT solutions to the retail sectors and the Escher Group, a leading provider of distributed messaging and data management solutions and services to introduce these additional kiosks.

We are very happy to announce that on Monday 6th Feb we launched our very first Facebook ad campaign and competition!

In exchange for your “Like” we are offering you the chance to enter in to a prize draw to win £100 worth of our Diamond Jubilee collection which was released on Monday.

Please see instructions below on how to enter:

Go to our Facebook page. If you are NOT yet a fan you will initially see this image below, if you ARE it should take you to the second image:

Facebooking Diamond Jubilee Comp Landing Page 1

Click “like”

It will take you to another image – please see below:

Diamon Jubilee Facebook Landing Page 2

When you get to the above image – click on the banner at the top which says “Click Here to Enter Our Royal Competition” – it will take you to a page titled “Enter Diamond Jubilee Comp Here!” This is where you can enter all your contact details.

Our Competition Terms & Conditions can be found on our “Info” tab found on the page

Once details have been written -simply click “submit”

All finished! Easy peasy! After that why not have a nosey on our Facebook page and join in the conversation with us and your fellow fans?

The final entry time for the comp is 11.59pm GMT on Monday 13th Feb. The winner will drawn and announced anytime from Tuesday 14th Feb onwards!

Good luck everyone, speak soon and we hope you enjoy our Facebook page!

During his recent visit to the Island, to promote good relations between the Isle of Man and the City of London, Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton met with IOM Stamps & Coins Manager Dot Tilbury, Chief Minister Alan Bell and Geoff Corkish MHK (Chairman of the IOM Post Office).
The Lord Mayor believed the partnership between the Isle of Man and the City would be crucial in helping to create wealth and economic well-being. For the UK and the City he shared Chief Minister Allan Bell’s vision for the Isle of Man of maintaining a prosperous and caring society based on fairness, opportunity for all, social cohesion and quality of life.

‘We are both small in size – but punch well above our weight in the global economy. We can be justly proud of the standards and governance we demand. And we are also well placed and well able to meet the challenges of the future – and play our part in creating jobs and growth.’

We, at IOM Stamps & Coins, feel that we “punch well above our weight” in the global stamp world and were pleased to present Alderman Wootton with a framed collection of our London 2012 Olympic Games stamps designed by Sir Paul Smith. He received the collection enthusiastically, praising their high quality of design and print and his belief that they stood a very good chance of being the best Olympic product of the year!